How to reduce sugar from your diet

Cutting out sugar to help improve your health is a no-brainer.

We know from extensive research that reducing sources of sugar in your diet not only helps with weight loss but can reduce your risk of some of the more common lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes, some cancers, digestive issues, autoimmune conditions and a whole lot more.

But what is the best way to go about reducing your intake of the white stuff?

My advice would be to start with cutting down on the most obvious offenders – sweetenedprocessed foods that are high in empty calories such as fizzy drinks, chocolate and cake for example.

Parents be aware of the amount of sugar and artificial ingredients in the majority of the ‘healthy’children’s drinks that are available. Most are anything but healthy.

Eating a predominantly whole food diet is a sure-fire way of reducing overall sugar intake and here are a three more easy to follow tips to get your started:

1 Avoid ‘low fat’ or ‘fat free’ foods – this always raises on eyebrow or two whenever I mention it,but low-fat products are generally higher in added sugars. Clever marketing advertises theseproducts as healthier options, but research tells us otherwise. Studies have shown that many low-fat foods contain far more sugar than their full fat equivalents.

2 Read the labels – You might be surprised to know that some very common everyday items that you will find on the supermarket shelves are not all they seem to be (again, clever marketing). If you are buying plant-based milk always go for unsweetened and check out the ingredients in things like salad cream, tomato sauce and soy sauce!

3 Steer clear of sweeteners – Using these products can lead you to over eat, consuming morecalories than need. That’s because artificial sweeteners have zero calories and therefore do notsatiate you. This could very well lead you to wanting something else – and on it goes. Not only that but the ingredients in some sweeteners are less than healthy!

If sugar is becoming a problem for you and your family, then why not try these easy swaps:

Swap your corn-based cereal for a bowl of porridge with chai seeds and blueberries

Swap your daily bag of crisps for a small bag of natural plain mixed nuts

Swap those sugar filled fizzy pop and energy drinks for plain water sweetened with some natural lemon or lime (or both!)

Swap white foods to the healthier wholegrain options

Introduce more protein type foods to help balance blood sugars and keep your appetite under control!